Tag: Trump pettiness

Trump calls for probe of Obama book

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Friday lashed out at Democrats over their ongoing investigations into his administration, suggesting there should instead be probes into former President Obama’s book deal and other activities under his predecessor.

“They want to investigate, they want to go fishing and I watched Bob Mueller and they have nothing,” Trump said of Democrats during an Oval Office gathering to announce an agreement with Guatemala.

“It’s a disgrace,” he continued. “We want to find out what happened the last Democrat president. Let’s look into Obama the way they’ve looked into me. From day one they’ve looked into everything we’ve done.”

View the complete July 26 article by Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

In Japan, Trump calls Jimmy Carter a ‘terrible president’ and says Kamala Harris got ‘too much credit’ in debate

Washington Post logoOSAKA, Japan — President Trump responded Saturday to criticism from former president Jimmy Carter by calling him a “terrible president” and asserted that Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) got “too much credit” for her debate performance following two days of intensive meetings with foreign leaders here.

Trump mocked Carter — who a day earlier suggested his presidency was illegitimate because of Russian interference in the 2016 election — as a “nice man” who was “trashed by his own party.”

“Russia, Russia, Russia,” Trump said in an exasperated tone during a news conference at the end of the Group of 20 summit. “He’s a Democrat and that’s a typical talking point.”

View the complete June 29 article by David Nakamura on The Washington Post website here.

U.S. cuts millions in aid to Central America, fulfilling Trump’s vow

WASHINGTON, DC — Fulfilling President Trump’s vow, the U.S. government officially announced on Monday it would cut millions of dollars in foreign aid to Central America, warning governments in the region that assistance will only resume when they do more to prevent their citizens from migrating.

The move, which the president ordered in late March, disrupts a long-standing pillar of American foreign policy supported by most Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Lawmakers had been urging the administration to reverse course, fearing the end of American assistance will only exasperate the rampant poverty, deep-rooted political instability and widespread insecurity in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, collectively known as the “Northern Triangle.”

A State Department official said $432 million in aid allocated in fiscal year 2017 will continue, while $185 million would be withheld until the U.S. determines that Central American governments have taken sufficient steps to reduce migration. The approximately $370 million allocated for fiscal year 2018, meanwhile, will be suspended entirely. The official said the administration will work with Congress to reprogram these funds to other “foreign policy priorities.”

View the complete June 18 article by Camilo Montoya-Galvez on the CBS News website here.

Trump, Pelosi engage in 29-hour war of insults worthy of ‘Veep’ storyline

HBO series has wrapped, but president and speaker keep its spirit alive as relationship sours again

ANALYSIS — HBO’s hit series “Veep,” with its hysterically dysfunctional depiction of official Washington, wrapped its seven-season run earlier this month. Or did it?

The president called the speaker of the House “crazy” after she pleaded for White House aides and his family members to hold an “intervention” for the leader of the free world. No, that’s not a scene from the Julia Louis-Dreyfus-starring show. It’s just the latest shenanigans from two of the most powerful officials in Washington — and on the entire planet, for that matter.

President Donald Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi have never been on good terms, despite occasionally describing civil phone calls or a rare meeting where everyone stayed in the room or avoided bickering in front of reporters and television cameras. But since she took back the gavel in January, the two have yet to negotiate and pass any major legislation.

View the complete May 23 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.

On Fox News, Rudy Giuliani Threatens Hillary Clinton With Payback

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani — somehow emboldened by the special counsel report that exposed Trump as a thin-skinned criminal who welcomed foreign interference in the 2016 election and attempted to obstruct justice multiple times — took to the Fox News airwaves to Wednesday morning to issue overt threats to Hillary Clinton.

In an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” the morning show that looks more like Trump state television than a news program, Giuliani baselessly claimed Clinton somehow was the reason why the Mueller probe began, and that the Trump Department of Justice is going to indict her next.

“How this ever got started in the first place is the next investigation. And Ms. Clinton better get a lawyer,” Giuliani said, referring to Mueller’s probe that has led to multiple former Trump campaign staffers being indicted, convicted, or pleading guilty to a litany of crimes.

View the complete April 24 article by Emily Singer on the National Memo website.

Disaster relief talks stalled by Trump feud with Puerto Rico

Senate negotiators say a deal on disaster relief is unlikely this week as President Trump refuses to agree to more funding for Puerto Rico in the midst of a feud with public officials on the island.

Trump’s beef with Puerto Rico has put Senate Republicans from Midwestern and Southern states in a tough spot, because they say farmers in their home states need assistance immediately.

Instead of fast action, however, the standoff is going to stretch into next week. That gives lawmakers only a few days to reach a deal before Congress is scheduled to start a two-week recess on April 15.

View the complete April 4 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

Trump Campaign Urges TV Producers To Silence His Critics

Talk about bad faith.

On Monday, the Trump campaign sent a memo to TV producers arguing that prominent Trump critics — including four Democratic members of Congress, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, and former CIA Director John Brennan — should be banned from appearing on news segments.

The reason? All six people have made comments about Trump and Russia that the Trump team disagrees with.

View the complete March 25 article by Emily Crockett on the National Memo website here.

Trump plots post-Mueller payback

President Trump and his allies on Monday sought to exact political revenge on congressional Democrats and the news media, seizing momentum generated by the end of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

The clear signal from Team Trump is that they think they can go on offense by using Mueller’s findings to jam Democrats and juice Trump’s base in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential race.

A summary of the special counsel’s conclusions released Sunday by Attorney General William Barr said that Mueller had not found enough evidence to prove a conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and Moscow. The special counsel did not make a determination on if the president had obstructed justice.

View the complete March 25 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.

Trump blasts McCain, bemoans not getting ‘thank you’ for funeral

President Trump on Wednesday unleashed fresh criticism of John McCain, attacking the late GOP senator from Arizona for his connection to a dossier of claims about the president and Russia, his vote against a Republican effort to repeal ObamaCare and his support for the Iraq War.

Trump spent five full minutes jabbing at McCain during an official White House event intended to highlight manufacturing in Ohio. The barbs marked the fourth time in the last five days that Trump has criticized McCain, who died from brain cancer in August.

“I gave him the kind of funeral that he wanted, which as president I had to approve. I don’t care about this, I didn’t get a thank you. That’s OK,” Trump told workers at a tank factory in Lima, Ohio.

View the complete March 20 article by Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

‘A total loser!’: Trump lashes out at George Conway, who has been questioning his mental health

President Trump on Tuesday ratcheted up a remarkable public spat with the husband of one of his top advisers, attacking Kellyanne Conway’s husband as “a total loser” on Twitter in response to the lawyer’s persistent questions about his mental health and competence. Continue reading “‘A total loser!’: Trump lashes out at George Conway, who has been questioning his mental health”